Microsoft allegedly taking over development of HERE Maps on Windows Phone from Nokia [Updated]

Update: The HERE team has posted an official update on this stating: "we have noticed some discussions in the blogosphere about HERE on Windows Phone. We want to clarify that we are committed to providing great products and consumer experiences for Windows based phones. We will continue to support our HERE apps to ensure that they will be compatible with future versions of Windows."

Original story: It looks like Microsoft is taking over development of HERE Maps for Windows Phone from Nokia. The change comes after it was revealed that Nokia was looking to develop the client from the ground up for Android and iOS platforms.

That's according to what Udo Szabo, Director of Product Marketing at HERE, said to Finnish publication DigiToday (translated):

When did Nokia phones, our goal was slightly different. Now we are developing applications on the basis of a realistic market. Microsoft will pay our maps license fees and is responsible for application development.

Now before you guys say that Nokia is abandoning Windows Phone users, that does not seem to be the case here at all. It looks like the Finnish vendor is focusing its attention on bringing the Android and iOS clients up to par with the Windows Phone version. Microsoft has already licensed the map data from Nokia, and now will also oversee development of the apps for Windows Phone.

As for Nokia, it will be launching an iOS client for HERE next year following the successful launch of HERE Maps on Android earlier this month. If you're interested in knowing more on Nokia's plans for HERE, head here.

Well it used to be a good app. I hold very little faith with how crap every other app Microsoft make for Windows Phone is, such as Facebook, or even first party apps like Xbox Music and Onedrive compared to the iOS versions.

Well now I'm disappointed. Here are useless at developing on Windows Phone. As other people have said, the beta is better than wp already. Will we get those new features? I think not. MS need to add these features into Bing maps, for the sake of their platforms. Otherwise wp has lost it's best selling point.

THis is like the BEST news! What an oppurtunity for MS to really one-up Google Maps. A few years ago I read about MS Photosynth and thought that was going to be the best way to truely map the planet. Using Microsoft phones and stripping the people out of photos using the geo-location embbeded in those mobile photos, MS can render accurate 3-D maps of places. If they could somehow harness BING Maps in conjunction with this and lets say some help from Facebook - they could create a current 3-D map of pretty much the entire world. Not only would that be great for a mapping product but licensing the info to game developers and such so they wouldn;t have to render imaginary places would be $$$ for nothing and a gift that keeps on giving at Redmond....

Nokia IS abandoning Windows Phone users. You said that Nokia is focusing on bringing the android and IOS apps up to par with the windows phone version which is WRONG. The Android version has more features than the Windows Phone version (such as alternate routes). The android version is also faster and has fast resume. The android versions of HERE Maps, Drive, and Transit are all one app for which makes much more sense.

All I want is an update to Here Maps and Drive+ that allows me to enter a contact's name into the search bar and it will pull up their address. Right now I have to go into that contact, tap their address, wait for Bing maps to load it, copy the address from the search box, open Here Maps, and paste it into the search box. My "favorite locations" are bloated because of this inconvenience. This feature has been in iOS products (and probably Android) for years. Someone please let me know if there is something I am missing.

Can anybody please read Nokias' statement carefully?!
"We will continue to support our HERE apps to ensure that they will be COMPATIBLE with future versions of Windows."
This means nothing else but ONLY bugfixes to reflect API changes in future versions of Windows. They don't care to improve the apps or add features.

"We will continue to support our HERE apps to ensure that they will be compatible with future versions of Windows."

By that, they mean, "we'll collect royalties on our app and let someone else do all of the work." I hope Microsoft uses this as a chance to learn what makes HERE work so well, then they take those features (particularly the navigation and offline maps), bring them to Bing Maps, then kick HERE To the curb.

I've read the comments and just wanted to say fuck M$ dawg I'm going back to my Startac. No lag, sick graphics, and everytime I need directions I call my mom and she uses yahoo maps like a pro! So fuck all you fanboys I'm going back to the og flip phone!

Good move by Microsoft, now there will be renewed development of Here Maps for WP. Traitorous Nokia would have stopped development of Here Maps for WP and focused on development of Here Maps for the enemies: "Ass"Droid and iSheep.

Microsoft doesn't need to make every app for windows phone..... Let the companies that made the apps keep doing it, you guys at MS have enough in house apps that you have made better on IOS and ANDROID that you need to get up to speed for us on WINDOWS PHONE!

Android may be laggy in cheaper devices but it is faster than wp in mine. However, I prefer the WP OS implementation and it is also more secure than Android. My problem with WP is MS and OEMs do not prioritise development for WP. If MS cannot believe in its own product, why should I?

Android is even great in low devices with low bloatware like moto e nd g.So android has improved over years.If at all android adopt wp like livetiles then only android I my way.i love these live tiles only thing I love about wp.

I don't see Nokia making too much progress in terms of penetration as there are excellent paid and free alternatives available on iOS and Android. This is going to be a tough nut for Nokia to crack. Anyway here's hoping they get some traction considering that they are an excellent company.

"Now before you guys say that Nokia is abandoning Windows Phone users, that does not seem to be the case at all."
No, it certainly does not...
When in fact it DOES look exactly like that.
HERE (Nokia) leaves all the work on the Windows Phone-apps to Microsoft and focuses themselves on the Android- and iOS-apps ONLY.
And with all the focus at Microsoft on Android and iOS too, I do wonder why Microsoft doesn't develop the HERE-Android- and iOS-apps for Nokia...

When did Nokia phones, our goal was slightly different. Now we are developing applications on the basis of a realistic market.

In other words, now that Nokia isn't selling WP hardware that it needs to prop up with HERE, and can look at the marketplace through the lens of reality, Windows Phone is not a "realistic market," and there's no profit nor potential in developing a Windows Phone app on their own.

Well, the ouch is in the past record of Microsoft delivering on their own apps, ie, Xbox Music and the Facebook app and updating and launching their apps on Android and iOS with more features than their own.

Nokia released a beta version of Here for Android in like 5 months after MS bought their Devices division. That very beta version looks and works better than the Here Drive+ version ever did on WP! No one will ever convince me that Here division was not saboteuring WP with their apps.

But, hell yes, if Nokia wants Google to dominate mobile OS world, let them have it. It's naive to think Google will be nice to them and give them cookies for helping them reach their goal.

If just 5% of all Android users (representing over 4% of smartphone users) use HERE Maps, that's a bigger market than 100% share on Windows Phone (representing around 3%). And that's really Microsoft's fault for the constant incompetence around their Windows Phone strategy -- you can't blame Nokia for wanting to go where the money and opportunity is, after all.

This is now but it wasn't so 3 years ago when Nokia launched WP. Why Here division never properly implemented Drive+ is beyond me. If they can do it in 5 months for Android they must have been able to do it for WP (all the relevant APIs were there).

If Nokia released a phone with killer navigation they could have had at least one other major draw apart from camera prowess. And they had all the skills and resources, they just apparently didn't want to.

How else can you explain that they are able to do alternate routes in 5 months for Android but can't do that for WP in 3 years? How hard can a single cycle that goes through three best paths in graph instead of just one be?

u know what the mobile first cloud. first vision means. device's change everytime. now Microsoft main focus is windows 10, and cloud.phones also have a limit of saying doing great things. bcoz pcs are best where and Microsoft is dominant.

Actually, if they get just 5% of Android, they'll have more users than if they got 100% of Windows Phone. They'll also be participating in a vibrant and growing ecosystem, not a failing and shrinking one.

I dont understand why there are separate apps for maps and drive. They should be the same. I also don't understand what the purpose of maps is when everything in maps is accessible from drive isn't it? They need to make Bing drive and have it be a mix of Bing maps, here maps, and here drive. And that be the only app. I just don't understand why there is two separate apps. Like why would anyone ever actually use here maps when we have here drive?

This simply means Nokia is giving MS the finger just like they did by releasing that tablet. They have shown they can still "produce" hardware and now they are demonstrating their power of freedom; how they intended on being on other platforms due to a larger user base but were on a leash...so pretty much giving MS the finger again.

If Nokia do decide to get into phones again and they play their cards right from now, they can succeed. Samsung is becoming more and more recognized for the most laggy android devices, HTC still doesnt hold the recognition Nokia/Samsung/Apple etc have/had, Sony has always been a niche competitor with great products but never have they shared the success Nokia had. Nokia till this very day, is recognized for quality and durable products, so if they do play their cards right, ringing bells here and there...the day they do release phones again....i'll leave it to you imagine the headlines and curiosity of previous users and fans of the brand. That's IF they ever do, so right now its as @brmiller1976 said, Nokia isnt a charity and they need to make money from their products, they dont owe MS anything, if anything MS held them back. I still believe the takeover moved faster the day Nokia decided to have the guts and release the Android devices. Should that move have been successful MS would have been doomed with WP since Nokia was practically WP.

It means that Windows Phone is not a viable market for a standalone HERE Maps app, while Android and iOS are.

It's not THAT surprising. Windows Phone is globally around 3% of all smartphones shipped (and sinking), and even Microsoft doesn't bother to release all their apps for Windows Phone in a timely fashion (or at all). Nokia isn't a charity -- they're not going to crank out high quality Windows Phone apps at a loss when even Microsoft can't and won't bother to support WP.

Oops, I may not come back to WP then, look at how WP struggles, and even here maps abandons WP. Look at how "good" Microsoft is making it's third party app, like Facebook, I feel it's time for WP to be buried, even newer windows 10 is coming, I don't see the motivation WP could gain any improvement over apps and market share. Bye bye.

Get this awful app to stop taking me to destinations I was using two trips ago. Tired of telling it to take me to point A and then finding out it has taken me point B that I used four days ago instead. App is highly overrated crap.

I guess this is the final sign to say goodby to WP and hello to Android. Microsoft will mess this one up asthey done with most of thier app development. It will get to be US centric and fully usable only for flagship US phone that only is ship to one network. Samsung Note looks more and more like an nice option..

Hear, hear. I can fully understand Tom Warren's reasoning on leaving Windows Phone behind, I have been thinking about doing the same (on and off) for quite some time now. The fact that the alternatives are Android and iOS have always gotten me off the idea, though. Plus, I do not feel like throwing away a phone that is not even 2 years old.

I noticed one issue after I did windows 8.1 update in my Lumia att 920, the navigator did not talk so I have to keep looking at the map in the phone. Before I was able to hear the lady said for example keep right .....merge to left lane. You reach your destination. Anyone

If you are a Windows 8.1 (or going to be a Windows 10 user) then another valid reason for sticking with Windows Phone is the universal apps - Being able to purchase once and use on your computer and phone.
When universal apps become widely available for Xbox One (Sometime in 2015?), then you would potentially be able to buy an app/game once and run it on your Phone, Desktop/Laptop PC, Tablet PC, and your Games Console - When Cortana is then available universally across all of these devices it gets even better.
I'd like to see Cortana reminders popping up on my Xbox in the future, or be able to set context specific reminders around which device I'm using "Remind me to XYZ when I next use my Xbox" etc.

Yeah, remember when 2014 was going to be the "year of universal apps thanks to 8.1?"

Didn't happen. And 2015, 2016, and 2017 also won't be the "year of Windows on mobile devices."

Windows is now a legacy OS for enterprise desktops and laptops that will serve as a cash cow for a few more years before fading away entirely, like DEC VAX, Solaris, and other dead OSes before it. It's dead for consumers, it's dead in mobile, and I doubt Xbox alone is enough to resuscitate it.

Microsoft had four years to get critical mass, distribution, and momentum. Instead we got the Great Windows Phone 7 Cancellation, a few lackluster carrier exclusive handsets, and Office for iOS without any comparable touch Windows stuff even on the horizon.

There's only so much incompetence that even a once-mighty ecosystem like Windows can take before it's permanently damaged. We passed that point years ago... now Windows Phone is dead. Oh, sure, there is some twitching in the corpse, but even Microsoft has given up on it.

This news is just the latest screaming indicator of how bad things are on the platform now.

Windows will fade away totally? Really?? And what will replace it in the workplace? Android? Lol. Chrome OS? That requires constant, cheap and abundant internet access - still a dream in many parts of the world. Still much too lightweight anyhow. iOS? Lol. OSX? You have to be kidding if you think enterprises, especially large ones and those in the developing parts of the world are going to shell out the money needed to run their businesses on Apple's crazily expensive hardware. Linux? Which sane IT department will recommend that for workers they will have to train extensively and expensively, workers who call on them for simple OS interaction problems on Windows XP? What other OS is easily accessed, installed and used with the barest minimum limitations? Windows is NEVER going anywhere, so long as the workplace exists. Other companies made the mistake of allowing MS grab the mindshare and domination of the 90s that the world is still largely locked on to. Comparing the Windows behemoth to those bullshit OSes that barely ever existed before dying is a joke.

i worked at tpg for a week (work experience) and if you don't know what that is it's the third biggest internet provider in australia and 40% of their computers used ubuntu and the computers that used windows were running windows xp proffessional

and the year before i worked at a small private bussiness and they all used windows xp

and a friend of mine worked at animal logic (the studio that created lego movie) and they all used linux computers so that answers your question for which IT department would use linux MANY

I wouldn't say never. I can see it fading away, being replaced by linux. Not entirely, but to a considerable amount. It wont be this year, or the next 3 or 4 years. But Linux will slowly start moving into the workplace, it actualy already is. In our company we are replacing our end devices by thin clients running Linux starting next year. Most of our applications are already written in Java and can therefore easily be made compatible with linux directly, allthough we currently are still using a Citrix Server farm.

A similar trend can be spotted in the consumer market. Now that Steam PCs are available with Steam OS, more and more games come with linux compatibility, so the argument of reuiring a gaming PC with windows are slowly going away.

This "Universal apps on phone" thing is really the only thing that Microsoft is clinging on to... If people dont like the idea behind it when windows 10 come out and wont use it on their phones, then its pretty much game over for microsoft when it comes to mobile platform. But it's more or less completely their fault - they've been running around like headless chickens for the last couple of years without any real vision for Windows Phone. They literally changed their minds every two years and now they are doing it again.

I agree that Microsoft's hope for spurring developer interest due to universal apps on W10 for phones, is the only thing now keeping their future mobile hopes alive.

If that either doesn't bring developers, or if the implementation is buggy, late or simply won't work, Microsoft can pretty much turn out the lights in their 'phones' division.

And still, it's a year or more away from a consumer mobile (tablet/phone) device. A release is being pegged for late 2015, which means November/Holiday season, but if it's late to market, you're looking at 2016.

I really do think now that 2016 will be the year that Microsoft writes down the Nokia acquisition, and sells the manufacturing assets to an Asian OEM.

I like the sound of Transport, Maps, and Drive all being in one app - Makes more sense

In the Android version is the Alternative Routes feature different to the 'My Commute' feature in the WP version? One thing that I think HERE Drive lacks is the Waze like functionality of finding you the best route - Which I'm assuming is what 'Alternative Routes' is in the Android version?

I'll have to check out the Android version to see how the maps look too, as I had assumed they would use the same visuals for the map across all versions of HERE.

I use a lot of Microsoft Services and Devices, so the main thing that will make me consider a Windows Phone 10 device over Android (I'll definitely be choosing between one or the other next year) will be that single app Ecosystem across Windows devices

"Now before you guys say that Nokia is abandoning Windows Phone users, that does not seem to be the case here at all. It looks like the Finnish vendor is focusing its attention on bringing the Android and iOS clients up to par with the Windows Phone version."

"Now before you say that your wife is cheating on you, that does not seem to be the case here at all. It looks like she is focusing her sexual attention to another man so he gets the same attention as you did"

EDIT: The fact that MSFT can't create apps if their life depended on it (I am using Xbox Music and Facebook as a case in point here) does not make me feel comfortable that they wont break the Here Drive/Here Maps experience for us.

The good and stable OS you are using was created by MS and they do have apps that work...more than thise that dont... Besides that, i think the nokia division ms purchased is who will continue development on it.

Outside of the XBOX Music app, what is wrong with the rest? They seem to work fine for me. I really do not want to do the same thing on a mobile app that I do on the PC. The day gone screen is to small and my fingers are to big.

Games Hub: Half of the time I try to access it, it'll stick on the green loading screen. When or if it loads, appart from being apalingly slow, it no longer notifies me of new messages on xbox live.

Xbox Music: The list here is very big. Lets take note of a single issue here but remember that this is just a tiny subsection of what's wrong with it. It simply does not show my proper collection on the device, half of the songs are no longer on my device and playback will fail, other songs are not listed despite being on the device. Other apps like ModernMusic work just fine and properly display my collection.

Skype: I wont notify me of new chat messages or contact requests most of the time, sometimes even for weeks. And then, randomly they start working again for a few hours.

Facebook: Not being able to comment/reply with pictures, not being able to create or even take part in embedded polls, ability to share to external apps, no ability to properly manage subscriptions/notification levels. Do I need to point out more? Yes, I am aware that I should be grateful that MS is creating an app because Facebook can't be bothered. But still, this app is horrible.

It's always the same four apps that are pointed out, what about the rest? They're not perfect but neither is any other company, every company is going to have apps or some feature that could work better. Games hub seems to be a feature they will be getting rid of soon, especially since we have a very nice implementation of folders on start screen. Skype is still being done by skype team (MS should put more pressure on them), xbox video/music are useable (though it should be better and took them a while to sort out). I have more of a gripe with the desktop apps that are a nightmare to sync playlists with. MS is by no means perfect but they do have some great more great apps than those that are imperfect. If they take over Here maps, im certain they will make it better than it's been and have it more fine-tuned for the OS. Off the top of my head, look at the update to storyteller and cortana

It's always the same four apps that are pointed out, what about the rest

Because I am using these as examples, ones that I know from the top of my head because I *want* to use these apps but can't. And everytime I try them or have to sue them the tick me off. I can't think of any other non-OS Microsoft apps that I am using at all apart from OneDrive occasionaly (which works allright). I've heard people complain about the podcasts and video apps as well but I can't weight in on these since I hardly ever use them.

xbox video/music are useable (though it should be better and took them a while to sort out)

I understand not everyone has the same needs, but for me xbox music is entirely unusable. It has been since April and has only minorly improved but everytime I want to use it it plainly wont work. I tried multiple hard resets, still nothing. I have now given up on it. A lot of people regularly complain about how bad the app is, but for them at least it works at all. For me, it wont. I have to use third party apps (which are better anyway, but still. MS should be able to create a working music app that caters to most users).

Games hub seems to be a feature they will be getting rid of soon, especially since we have a very nice implementation of folders on start screen

"Replace" feels like the wrong word here. They just abandon the games hub even though it serves a broader purpose than simply grouping games together (allthough its superiority compared to folders comes from the fact that it's automatically managed). It also allows access to the social aspects of (xbox) gaming like achievements, friends list and messages. Folders can not replicate that, not even rudimentary.

I am not complaining about having to find the games in my app list or having to create a folder on the home screen. That's entirely viable. It's the other parts of the games hub that MS apparently seems to have forgotten exist. For all intents and purposes I wouldn't care about the "Games hub" as such if they made a proper xbox app that allows me to use the social xbox features reliably. But the fact is: Their games hub *IS* that app and it's broken. And they have not bothered to fix it in over half a year.

You're completely correct, at the end of the day, the music app is what comes with WP and is what is expected to be used so it should work flawlessly. To be fair, i enjoy using it on my 930 more than I did with my 920 because it simply works better, so that's how im basing my judgment, when it should work the same on all WP devices.

Im not saying the Games hub should be replaced, Im pretty much saying they seem to be abandoning it; all their apps have received and still receive updates, except for the hub and i think part of that reason, is because integrating games with Xbox has proven to be a pain for most developers, which is also why most the games today, dont have an xbox badge and we have lots more of games coming to WP than before. If that is indeed the case, then sadly there is no purpose for the games hub anymore, it was a great idea but if only a few old games use it, then there is no point. Unless MS magically gains a very large chunk of market share, then it wont be able to push developers into the xbox games program and that is why i believe the app isnt being updated and why it will be abandoned soon. The first sign of that, was when they decided to place games in the app list instead of just in the games hub.

Since folders i have completely forgotten about the hub and have all my games in a folder on desktop; works quicker and they can be accessed quicker as well.

Blink, Office, OneNote, Movie Creator, Panorama, OneDrive, Cortana (and im sure there are more that Im missing) all work very well for what they are supposed to do. The team responsible for the Music/Video apps are what need to be "fixed" in order for the app to work like it should and the Skype team seem to be making an effort as of late, maybe they just needed a push.

Blink, Office, OneNote, Movie Creator, Panorama, OneDrive, Cortana (and im sure there are more that Im missing) all work very well for what they are supposed to do. The team responsible for the Music/Video apps are what need to be "fixed" in order for the app to work like it should and the Skype team seem to be making an effort as of late, maybe they just needed a push.

Office and OneNote are part of the OS, just like the videos/music hub and games hub were before they were broken by taking them out of the OS.

While Blink and Panorama are good (they work and deliver nice results) It would be great if they were combined into a single camera app that you can easily select which mode you want to use. We have the windows phone camera which only takes still pictures and videos, blink, which can create burst shots with animations, Panorama allows us to take panoramas. Then we have lumia camera which pretty much combines blink with a regular camera, but I still can't take panorama pictures. MS allows us to quickly switch to different camera apps using the lenses feature, but with the better camera (better = more features/modes) is not very straight forward to change lenses, at least the MS camera has an easily available lenses button. But still, I'd love to see MS integrate *basic* camera modes like burst shots and panorama into one single camera app.

I can't say anything about Movie Creator, never tried it.

Cortana has only been available for me for a few weeks, but again: It's not a standalone app but part of the OS. MS seems to have less problems in creating good applications that are part of the OS but have a tendency to create bad standalone apps. I am not saying that EVERY standalone app is bad but as of late the more recent standalone apps show a bad track record.

I assume this is because the teams work less closely with the OS designers.

Im actually getting better results on my 930 for Macro shots, using the Microsoft cam than I am with Lumia cam because I can zoom in more but lumia cam is richer and quality is better for general shots, havent experienced bugs though but seems like denim will be ironing things out.

I think nokia got it right with here and starting off with the (free) offline map philosophy as a basis. I think this is something many people disliked about and other map, even google's. Technology has improved immensly these last few years, but 3g and 4g. signals are still average at best in reallife scenario's. It is my experience that offline maps with gps on a smartphone still is the most consistent and stabler expeirence and preferably the way to go. I understand the arugment many only need parts of a map and don't want to pay for a whole country or continent. But it's still the best, most flexibel experience, and memory is less of an issue these days. There is high praise that the cloud solution is the big thing. But I notice that every day use of the cloud has it's vulnerability of dependancy. It is yet again only as good as the signal that can offered and it is only average as best. In my experience offline and device to device transfer of important data still is the best real world experience.

I think that if microsoft takes over here maps, they shouldn't be afraid to still embrace the offline maps concept and build on that. When I compare bing to here maps on my windows phone or windows 8 device I do notice that the places library in Bing maps are somewhat better than here maps. Thus I think that building up the here maps database of the offline maps with more info on more places, could be bing maps added value. If both companies were to invest more on improving bicycle paths and offroad maps, here maps would be a vast improvement over google maps in the front of map improvements. Looking forward to that!

I agree with some posts that I mainly bought WP for the free nav being here drive, I'm so used to it now and its a great phone with denim update, still if the here appss are on other devices it makes it harder to sway people over

From the article: "Now we are developing applications on the basis of a realistic market."

In other words, they're not keeping HERE maps strictly on Windows Phone because of low market share. As bad as that sounds, you have to remember they're running a business. Android and iOS have 90% of the market share, and that's what they want a piece of. You would do the same if it was your company.

The phone isn't making enough revenue for MSN. Getting MSN available on more platform makes more money then Windows Phone alone. So it's true MS abandoning it's phone platform,even with newer windows 10 to come, I don't see any difference to now. The market share still struggles. And maybe 5 years from now, Phone platform is over for MS. MS IS GOOD at dooming things

but at that time even droid will become saturated to be updated with more productive features. phone has the limit bro. pc os os the future again. phone will just provide mobility of things. that's it. and all the best games will be there with windows 10

They are already! The android version has more advanced routing options than HERE Drive+ on Windows Phone ever had. Even the Symbian version was way better on that regard. The WP version is still missing some of those old features but they included more of them in the android version already.

this move is not bad. in fact it is something positive that promises continued development and support of HERE services on Windows Phone.

Nokia already announced that they will be focusing on iOS and Andriod. If development is to remain with Nokia, their resources will be strained and even more so that they will slow down or put Windows Phone version into a dormant state.

Now the responsibility is taken over by MSFT, and having more expertise and dedication to make use of HERE Maps, and also guaranteening HERE's prescence in WP.

This also brings us back to the time when Nokia D&S was still Nokia, and the company is offering free maps as a bundle package to whoever buys the phone, as long as MSFT is paying Nokia.

Somewhat my thinking. It maybe best that Microsoft purchase a map company like Garmin or TomTom in this way we know the maps will stay up to date and continuum. I don't see Microsoft being able to do this on their own.

Yep, now development is in the hands of the same team responsible for the still awful Xbox Music app and Microsoft's Facebook app.

So, I guess mapping is going to flounder on the platform and be generations behind the others, and so it goes.

I agree with everyone else: a year or so ago, the platform was growing, but now, Microsoft is apparently doing another 'reset' or 'do over' in mobile with W10, and the phone platform will be yet another generation or two behind.

Yup, it's better and it's ONE APP on Android. I load it up and I can get driving, walking and transit directions without swapping out to another app. They added Glympse service to share your trip. Since HERE doesn't do live traffic rerouting, I don't even need to put my SIM in the Android, to run the better map.

Damn Nokia... You really are sounding more and more like a bunch of whining kids. First its WPs fault you didn't succeed in the mobile market and now you are giving away one of the prime reasons to get Nokia phone in the first place. You just didn't have the balls to loosen the commitment you made to MS even though you had ideas for Android development. Puh on you. Bad leadership isn't an excuse for this kind of abandonment of your old faithful customers.
I know the article says they didn't abandon WP, but I wont be any bit surprized if that is exactly what has happened!

Then I guess I'm willingly blind, because I don't see it at all. WP is here to stay. For now at least. Everything comes to an end some day, but I don't see MS giving up just yet. Nokia gave up, but MS has alot of money to through around.

"Now before you guys say that Nokia is abandoning Windows Phone users, that does not seem to be the case here at all."

IMO that is exactly what is happening. These developments also would explain the reason for the buyout. What would not have been good for MSFT and Windows Phone is the exact events we see unfld not, Nokia selling off their brand to your avagage Chinese manufacturer and focus shifting to Android/iOS. On the other hand the latter would make sense from the viewpoint of HERE as there is lot of money and information to be had on that side of the pond..